Learning Hebrew

Hebrew is a challenging language to learn. There are sounds that are unfamiliar to most English speakers and learning a brand new alphabet is exceedingly difficult. And yet, reading Hebrew is essential to being a participating and engaged Orthodox Jew. All of our prayers are in Hebrew and prayed accordingly. Most of our texts that we learn are in Hebrew. Children will come home from their yeshiva education and be required to practice their Hebrew reading with their parents. It is essential that candidates learn to read Hebrew with some speed and more importantly, accuracy. An additional challenge is that most brains find learning a new language challenging as they age. While children are more adaptable, adults can really struggle. While there are excellent courses that can teach someone the basics of how to read each letter and vowel, practicing to improve speed and accuracy takes months of consistent and hard work. Beginning to learn Hebrew should be an early addition to the candidate’s learning process. While understanding what one reads is important for a myriad of reasons, for the purposes of conversion, a candidate need only be able to read even if they don’t understand the words that they are saying.